What Will the Battery Future Look Like: Experts Advise

Industry experts and academics have released a report titled ‘Future of Batteries’. Their research, under the banner of Arthur D Little Consulting attempts to answer two questions. These issues are which technology will dominate future battery space? And how should companies in the sector prepare themselves for a brave new battery future?

The Five Applications That Will Drive the Battery Future

The experts discern new applications joining traditional markets. However, they anticipate starter batteries will continue to maintain market share, although growing use of electric vehicles and their hybrids may take over in the West.

Moreover, electronic devices will continue to demand the largest-possible amount of energy in the most compact form. While energy storage will continue to grow at an unknown rate worldwide. The fifth application is the crowd of other devices, some of which lie in the battery future. Others in the current era include drones, power tools, electric scooters, electric bikes, aviation, forklifts etc.

Which Battery Technology Will Dominate As of Now

The Arthur D Little Consulting team considered three scenarios. In the first of these, current lithium-ion technology overcomes safety and cost issues, and dominates the market as the sole solution, just as photovoltaic cells have done with solar.

However, the experts consider it more likely the battery future will see a new lithium-ion technology take over. Because they believe the current model is ‘hitting its theoretical limits’, and electric vehicles and electronics will demand better answers. Therefore, they expect to see a move to solid-state electrolyte batteries, where the user pays more for greater benefits.

Finally, the panel considers it unlikely the foreseeable battery future will witness a viable alternative battery technology emerge. Because, “As of now,” they say, “there is no truly viable battery technology with sufficient potential to replace currently dominant Li-ion batteries across all applications.”

About Author

I tripped over a shrinking bank balance and fell into the writing gig unintentionally. This was after I escaped the corporate world and searched in vain for ways to become rich on the internet by doing nothing. Despite the fact that writing is no recipe for wealth, I rather enjoy it. I will not deny I am obsessed with it when I have the time.
My base is Umtentweni in South Africa on the Kwazulu-Natal South Coast. I work from home where I ponder on the future of the planet, and what lies beyond in the great hereafter. Sometimes I step out of my computer into the silent riverine forests, and empty golden beaches for which the area is renowned. Richard Farrell